F 



BrUe, 25 CetUs. 



Historical Address 



^\l ^xploratimi and J^ttUiiifnt of ilje 
missippt m\\%. 



BY 0. C. PARRY, M. D. 

LATE BOTANIST OF AGRICULTURAL .pEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, I). 



Deliveked in Davenport, Iowa, January 21st, 1873. 



Ill 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE YOUSG 
MFJN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION POOR FUND. 



Davenport^ Iowa : 

Bay, Egbert, ^ Fidlar. 

1873. 




Glass t-3Jij 

Book y ^^ 



Historical Address 






V V 
BY O; PARRY, M. D. 

LATE BOTANIST OP AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Delivered in Davenport, Iowa, January 21st, 1873. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST, FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE YOUNG 
MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION POOR FUND. 



Davenport, loiva : 

Day, Egbert, ^ Fidlar. 

1873. 



^\t '^mim^p yalleg. 




HE country we now occupy on this western 
bank of the Mississippi, and of which, as Amer- 
ican citizens, we are justly proud, has not de- 
scended to us as a rich inheritance from a vener- 
able and time-honored ancestry. By an historic movement 
grander than that of the Jewish Exodus, and an irruption 
that throws into the shade the Norman conquest, we are 
the present possessors of a land unknown to our fathers. 
Even during the present century, and within the memory 
of living men, this Trans-Mississippi region has borne the 
name of a French, monarch and acknowledged the sover- 
eignty of a Spanish king. Through what series of changes 
the present state of things, as now passing before our eyes, 
has been brought about, would seem not altogether devoid 
of interest to us, the now living actors, and will be of not less 
interest to those who shall come after us. Desirous to con- 
tribute something, however meagre, to this historic fund, 
I have endeavored to bring together, in chronological order, 
some of the principal events in the early exploration and 
settlement of the Mississippi Valley, and to weave into my 
narrative such incidents as I have been able to gather up 
from the limited sources at my command, having any direct 
reference to our local history. 

It is a matter of regret — though perhaps in the nature of 
things unavoidable — that, in the bustle and excitement of 
frontier life, the most favorable conditions are not afforded 
for a calm and dispassionate view of the true character and 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 



distinctive features of our aboriginal Indian population. 
Being regarded mainly as obstacles in the way of advancing 
civilization, or, commercially, as a source of immediate 
gain, neither the settler, the trader, or even the missionary, 
are qualified to give us an unbiased view of the original 
possessors of the soil we now occupy. Hence, the materials 
for a correct history have to be laboriously exhumed out of 
one-sided military reports, prolix missionary narratives, 
fragmentary newspaper sketches, and fugitive correspondence 
accidentally preserved. As yet, no historical Agassiz or Hitch- 
cock has appeared to reconstruct these dim tracks into liv- 
ing history. Hence, in our attitude as simple inquirers, we 
can hardly do better than to take the advice of a western 
writer, who, in alluding to the obscure subject of Indian 
antiquities, remarks : '' We are standing in the midst of 
monuments that are (iwm^ ; let us keep questioning — they may 
hereafter speak to us." 

Viewed only from the present standpoint, the past history 
of the aboriginal races on this continent presents no attract- 
ive features; it is but a record of continued, persistent, and 
relentless destruction. Except in the pages of romance, its 
whole history may well be written in blood. Even the 
precious seed of the Gospel, heroically sown and carefully 
nurtured, has fallen upon an unfruitful soil, save here and 
there a few scattered sheaves worthy to be gathered into the 
heavenly garner ; all else presents a scene of moral waste 
and desolation, more repulsive and less hopeful than that 
which externally characterizes the most barren of our inte- 
rior desert wastes. Turn we from this dark picture. 

In the early civilized history of this continent, three great 
European powers occupied almost exclusively the domain 
of history. Spain, France, and England, extended their 
wars, their rivalries, and their enterprises, from the old 
world to the new, and in the midst of their incessant and 
varied contests, the cradle of American civilization was 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 



rudely rocked. Spain, in the fiist period of American dis- 
covery the most enterprising, confined her attention mainly 
to the southern countries, and stretched her bloody and vic- 
torious arm over the weak and luxurious natives of torrid 
climes. Most of her northern expeditions proved complete 
and disastrous failures, and De Soto, the first discoverer of 
the Mississippi, three hundred and thirty years ago, found 
onh^ an unhonored grave beneath its waters. France, fol- 
lowing later in the track of her enterprising fishermen, 
gained her first permanent foothold on the noithern Amer- 
ican coasts and islands ; thence penetrating, by the naviga- 
ble route of the St. Lawrence and the chain of northern 
lakes, to the interior districts, from whence the Upper Mis- 
sissippi was eventually reached. English colonies at first 
occupying the intermediate country along the Atlantic sea- 
board, eventually as the result of fierce and continued wars 
dispossessed the other European powers, and extended her 
dominion over the greater part of eastern North America. 

To French enterprise solely is due the credit of tlie earli- 
est exploration, and the first permanent settlements along 
the whole course of the Mississippi Yalley. Fortunately, 
the record of this first discovery is full and complete, as we 
now proceed to note. 

Nearly two hundred years ago — on the 17th of June, 
1673 — two bark canoes, containing barely eight persons, 
entered the Mississippi river. Their route was by an almost 
continuous w^ater passage, by way of Green Bay, on Lake 
Michigan, ascending the Fox river, of Wisconsin, to its 
upper marshes, where, by a short portage, the canoes were 
transferred to the waters of the Wisconsin, thence, by an 
easy descent, reaching the Mississippi river. The chief 
member of this exploring party, though not its actual lead- 
er, was Father James Marquette, a Catholic priest, w^ho, 
with self-denying zeal, had devoted his life to missionary 
labor among the western aboriginal tribes. His associate, 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 



and the official head of the expedition, was Sieur Jolliet, a 
native of Canada, a man of enterprise and tact, well qual- 
ified for the position to which he had been assigned, at 
present geographically commemorated by the thriving Illi- 
nois town which bears his name. On the swelling tide of 
the June rise, these adventurous travelers pursued their 
journey down the course of this majestic stream, to which 
the present name, under a slightly changed orthography 
(Michisipi), was then applied. The peculiar features of the 
country on either hand drew their earnest attention, while 
they were oppressed by the death-like silence that brooded 
over its unpeopled shores. By the third or fourth day they 
must have passed Rock Island, of which, however, no 
special mention is made. The rapids being then covered 
up by the swollen waters, also seem not to have attracted 
attention. 

At some point not far below the present town of Keo- 
kuk, on the 25th of June, an Indian trail is noticed on 
the western shore, leading from the river bank across the 
narrow neck of land between the Mississippi and Des Moines 
rivers. Intent on acquiring some knowledge of the inhabi- 
tants adjoining this wonderful but apparently deserted 
stream, the two adventurers left their canoes in charge of 
their attendants, and followed the track six miles, to an In- 
dian village on the banks of the Des Moines. Here their 
hazardous enterprise was rewarded by being kindly re- 
ceived and hospitably entertained by the no less wondering 
natives. After a prolonged stay of six days, during which 
Father Marquette improved the opportunity to speak to 
them by expressive signs both of the French king, and the 
Great Heavenly Master, they again started on their voy- 
age, being escorted back to their canoes by a large retinue 
ot warriors. On their final parting, they received as a gift 
an ornamented peace-pipe, to be used as a sacred calumet 
against the foes and dangers to which they might be ex- 
posed on their route. 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 



The voyage continues without hindrance or mishap, pass- 
ing the mouth of the Missouri, noted in the map accompa- 
nying Marquette's narrative as Pekitanoui, or the " Muddy 
Water." They glide on the swift and now turbid cur- 
rent past the then unoccupied site of the present metropolis 
of the Mississippi Valley — St. Louis — along the great 
American Bottom, soon after to receive the first permanent 
French settlers. Farther on, the mouth of the Ohio is 
passed, and beyond the sightly bluffs on which Memphis is 
now located. Then comes the monotonous, densely-wooded 
shores, and the interminable cane-brakes, where^oppressive 
heat and tormenting insects add their discomforts to the 
unattractive scenery. After passing below the mouth of 
the Arkansas, and encountering different races of Indians, 
not altogether friendly, and being fully satisfied that the 
course of the river was to the Gulf of Mexico, and not as 
represented — into the South Sea, or the Pacific Ocean — 
they considered that the chief object of their journey was 
accompUshed. In order, therefore, not to expose the re- 
sults of their journey to unnecessary risk, they concluded 
to return, and, retracing their course up the Mississippi as 
far as the mouth of the Illinois, they were guided by a still 
more direct water communication up that stream to the 
head of Lake Michigan ; and, having accomplished a trav- 
eled distance of over twenty-five hundred miles, reached 
their starting-point at Green Bay in September, after an 
absence of just four months. 

On his return voyage to Quebec, Jolliet was so unfortunate 
as to lose the notes of his journey, barely escaping with 
his life, by the wreck of his boat in crossing the rapids of 
the St. Lawrence. This disaster served to give additional 
value to the narrative of Marquette, which, having been duly 
transmitted to his ecclesiastical superiors, on the month fol- 
lowing his return, was subsequently forwarded to the French 
authorities. France, however, was not at this time in a con- 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY : 



dition to avail herself of the advantages thus offered by her 
enterprising sons to extend her dominions over the Mississ- 
ippi valley, and accordingly no official action was taken to 
perfect the discovery. But among those occupying the 
frontier settlements along the line of the Great Lakes, to 
whom this discovery was communicated, was Robert Cava- 
lier de La Salle, then living at Fort Frontenac, (now King- 
ston), Canada. This man, possessed of indomitable natural 
energy, and ambitious of securing wealth and distinction, 
conceived the idea of securing these ends, by colonizing this 
new region, and planting the standard of France in this 
magnificent valley. Full of these schemes, in the year 1678 
he went to France, where, in presenting his plans before the 
French government, he had no difficulty in procuring a royal 
commission with full powers and privileges for carrying out 
his designs. On returning to this country he immediately 
set about his preparations, and in 1679 launched the first 
sail vessel on Lake Erie. On August 7th, of the same year, 
he set sail on his adventurous journey. On reaching the 
extreme settlements of Green Bay, he concluded to send 
back his vessel loaded with furs, for additional supplies, 
while he continued his journey in bark canoes along the 
east shore of Lake Michigan, as far as St. Joseph river, to 
which point he had given directions for his vessel to return. 
While waiting here impatiently this expected arrival, ' the 
cold season was rapidly advancing, and the severities of an 
approaching winter awakened anxious fear and solicitude. 
Unable longer to bear this intolerable suspense, this resolute 
commander resolved to push forward with the slender means 
at his command, in the direction of his proposed exploration 
Accordmgly, on the 3d of December, 1679, he proceeded 
with his party by the return route of Marquette, six years 
previously, passing up the St. Joseph river in Michigan, 
crossing by a portage to the Kankakee, branch of the Illi- 
nois, and down the latter stream. He found the ^Ilinois 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 



valley then, as in the time of Marquette, occupied by various 
bands of the Illinois tribe of Indians. Here his superior 
tact and abilities were brought into active requisition to 
conciliate the friendship and good-will of this powerful 
tribe, and succeeding in this, he located his winter quarters 
in their midst, at some point not far from the present site 
of the town of Peoria. As an expression of his bitter dis- 
appointment in the present failure of his plans, he gave the 
name of Creve-coeur (or broken heart), to the first civilized 
settlement in the now flourishing state of Illinois. 

The details of this gloomy and disheartening winter can 
be better imagined than described, but nothing could daunt 
the resolute spirit of La Salle ; having given up all hopes 
of the safety of his vessel, on which he was dependent for 
the means of continuing his explorations, he organized a 
party under Father Louis Hennepin, the missionary priest, to 
ascend the upper Mississippi. This Reverend Father, who, 
subsequently, by his false and contradictory statements, re- 
ceived the not very dignified title of *'The Great Liar," so 
far successfully carried out the plans of his commander 
(whom he never afterwards met alive), as to ascend the 
Mississippi in the following season, 1680, as far as the falls 
of St. Anthony, so named by him. After making all due 
allowances for the subsequently proved unreliable character 
of the man, his published narative of what he actually did 
see, cannot properly be overlooked in what purports to give 
a true history of the early explorations of the Mississippi 
valley. 

After completing these arrangements and making the 
best provision possible under the circumstances for his par- 
ty, La Salle, on the 2d of March, 1680, accompanied by 
four Frenchmen and an Indian guide, started overland en- 
route to Canada, for necessary supplies. This arduous jour- 
ney, performed on foot and in the most disagreeable season 
of the year, was successfully accomplished, though no de- 



10 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 



tailed record has been published of the difficulties and hard- 
ships of the trip. On reaching Fort Frontenac, La Salle 
lost no time in pushing forward his enterprise. Another 
vessel was built, and abundant supplies furnished, this oc- 
cupying the greater part of the year 1680. By the close of 
the year he again reached the Illinois country, to find his 
fort abandoned, and his party broken up. The winter and 
part of the following spring of 1681 was spent in conciliat- 
ing the good-will of the various Indian tribes, in which be- 
ing successful, he again returned to Canada to reorganize 
his exploring party, and returned at the close of the season 
fully equipped for his long-delayed undertaking. Finally 
on the 6th of February, 1682, he reached the mouth of the 
Illinois, and thence following down the Mississippi beyond 
the explorations of Marquette, he crowned his ambitious 
hope^ by planting the banner of France at the outlet of this 
majestic stream, with appropriate imposing ceremonies, on 
the 9th of April, 1682, the adjoining country then for the 
first time receiving the name of Louisiana. Thus by his 
persevering efiPorts, continued in spite of disheartening dis- 
asters, for four years, was accomplished a complete exam- 
ination of the entire navigable waters of the Mississippi, 
from the falls of St. Anthony to its mouth, one hundred 
and ninety years ago. 

After his return an interval of two years elapsed, during 
which time La Salle returned to France with the news of 
his discoveries, and organized a large colonizing expedition, 
designed to reach this country by sea. 

In July, 1684, the fieet, composed of four vessels, set sail 
from France. This expedition, taking a southern route, 
landed at San Domingo. Here occurred the misfortune of 
the loss of one of the vessels loaded with goods and supplies, 
being captured by a Spanish force. The threes remaining 
ships having laid in a store of provisions, and taking on 
board a number of domestic animals designed to stock their 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 11 



colony, weighed anchor November 25th, 1684, and proceed- 
ed on their voyage toward the mouth of the Mississippi. 
After safely rounding the western cape of Cuba, they made 
land to the north, but by some misunderstanding missed 
the mouth of the Mississippi, and following westward in 
search of it, along the gulf coast, reached Metagorda Bay, 
Texas. Here, on attempting a landing, La Salle's store ship 
was wrecked and went to pieces ; discouraged by this loss, 
one of the other two remaining vessels abandoned the ex- 
pedition, thus leaving La Salle with but one, short of sup- 
plies, to prosecute his enterprise. Subsequently, by mis- 
management of the pilot, this last ship was also wrecked on 
the Texan coast, and La Salle was left, with a remnant of 
his disheartened party, to make his way by land to the Illi- 
nois country. In this journey La Salle was killed by a mu- 
tineer of his party, on the 17th of March, 1687, and event- 
ually only a few forlorn individuals of the original expedition 
reached the banks of the Mississippi. Thus closes the 
eventful history of La Salle, the explorer of the Mississippi 
valley. 

The disastrous result of this well devised and energetic 
enterprise for the settlement of the Mississippi valley might 
have been supposed to dampen the ardor of French civili- 
zation; but it proved far otherwise. Every new country 
seems to require a certain amount of pioneer blood to fer- 
tilize its soil, and thus prepare it for the vigorous growth 
of the seeds of a higher civilization. The knowledge thus 
acquired of this magnificent country, with its broad avenues 
of trade, its prolific soil, and varied climate, could not fail 
to excite new enterprises, and from this time forward suc- 
ceeding the death of La Salle in 1687, up to the close of the 
seventeenth century, permanent French settlements were 
established in the Illinois country, of which the present 
towns of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Peoria are the true lin- 
eal descendents. On the 2d of March, 1699, D'Iberville, the 



12 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 



daring arctic explorer of Hudson Bay, and afterwards the 
first regularly appointed French governor of Louisiana, en- 
tered the mouth of the Mississippi from the Gulf, this being 
the first authentic record of a regular sailing vessel reaching 
lower Louisiana by this route. 

With the close of the seventeenth century, and the ush- 
ering in of the year 1700, we leave behind the romance of 
discovery and adventure, and enter upon the more common- 
place details of civilized history. The Mississippi river is 
no longer a mythical stream, afibrding, it may be, an outlet 
to the South Sea and the Indies. Its navigable waters have 
been accurately traced, and its principal tributaries have 
been laid down m published maps. The nature of the 
country through which it Hows, and the aboriginal tribes 
that occup}^ its banks have been described in more or less 
detail, though it must be admitted, too often clothed with 
exaggerated features. It is a wilderness to be redeemed 
from heathenism to Christianity, and where to all appear- 
ances French civilization will establish a permanent foot- 
hold in the new world. The men to accomplish this great 
work were being educated in the cloisters of the Catholic 
church, or trained to endurance in the rude school of Can- 
adian frontier life. It would be difi3.cult to find elements 
more promising for attaining grand results; every thing 
seemed to point to French supremacy. Spain was absorbed 
in her rich southern dependencies, and English colonies 
were but slowly struggling into permanent settlement along 
the Atlantic seaboard. In the west, France was without 
a rival; her policy of ingratiating the good will of the abo- 
riginal tribes, by generous treatment, and securing their re- 
spect by the imposing ceremonies of a religion addressed 
largely to the senses, preserved the early French settlers 
from many of the dangers to which Spanish cruelty, and 
English overbearance, exposed their respective colonies. 
Hence, we find little to record in the matter of Indian wars 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 13 



and bloody massacres of defenceless settlements. Still the 
country was difficult to reach, and means of conveyance 
were expensive and hazardous, rendering the progress of 
settlement slow and uncertain. It was under these circum- 
stances that the French government, desirous of promoting 
a more rapid growth, in accordance with the views then 
prevalent, granted a monopoly of the trade of the country 
for fifteen years, to a successful and wealthy merchant, M. 
Crozat, this grant bearing date September 14th, 1712. Af- 
ter an unsuccessful experience of five years, during which 
Crozat, instead of realizing immense wealth, only dimin- 
ished his private fortunes, and failed to add to the growth 
and prosperity of the country, he surrendered his grant, 
which passed into the hands of an organization known as 
the Mississippi Company, under the management of a cele- 
brated financial schemer, John Law, a visionary Scotchman. 
The ostensible plan of this company was to enrich every 
body connected with it by a gigantic system of credit, based 
on undeveloped mineral wealth and agricultural resources 
yet unrealized. The first eftect of this scheme was greatly 
to encourage emigration; glowing prospects were held out 
to the settler of sudden wealth attained without labor, and 
independent of capital. Hence, at this period we note the 
location of some of the principal towns of Lower Louisiana, 
including New Orleans, dating from 1720, JSTatchez, as early 
as 1716. Upper Louisiana was too far removed to share to 
any considerable extent in these enterprises, though mining 
schemes were extensively projected in the lead regions of 
Missouri and the Upper Mississippi valley. The final col- 
lapse of this bubble, which, after a nominal existence of 
barely fifteen years, finally exploded, though necessarily dis- 
astrous to those directly engaged, who had at the com- 
mencement anything to loose, nevertheless, to the country 
at large, left some permanent benefits, among ^liich we 
may enumerate a manifest increase of population, more at- 



14 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 



tention given to agriculture, as well as the addition of such 
staple articles of production as rice, sugar, and tobacco in 
the south, and wheat in the Elinois country. As one of 
the darkest shades upon this bright side of the picture, we 
are also compelled to note the first introduction of negro 
slaves into Louisiana, under the auspices of the Mississippi 
Company in 1719. It was during this period of time also, 
that Spanish jealousy made itself conspicuous by encroach- 
ments on the French colonies, both on the east and west, 
from Florida and Mexico. The year 1729 was memorable 
for the massacre of the French colony at Natchez, by the 
Natchez Indians, who were provoked to this act by repeated 
insults and injuries received from the French military au- 
thorities. In the following year this flourishing tribe was 
in its turn almost completely extirpated, only a miserable 
remnant of survivors being sent to end their days as slaves 
in San Domingo. Subsequent to the failure of the Mississ- 
ippi scheme, the country gradually ino(reased in population 
and wealth. The period of time from 1732 to 1754, being 
regarded as the palmy days of French settlement in the Ill- 
inois country. Here is what a French writer, Yivier, writes 
of Illinois, in a letter dated June 8th, 1760 (Annals of West, 
page 38) : 

" We have here whites, negroes, and Indians, to say noth- 
ing of cross-breeds. There are five French villages, and 
three villages of the natives within a space of twenty-one 
leagues, situated between the Mississippi and a village 
called the Karkadiad (Kaskaskias). In the five French vil- 
lages are perhaps eleven hundred whites, three hundred 
blacks, and some sixty red slaves or savages. The three 
Illinois towns do not contain more than eight hundred souls, 
all told. Most of the French till the soil, they raise wheat, 
cattle, pigs, and horses, and live like princes. Three times 
as much is produced as can be consumed, and great quanti- 
ties of grain and flour are sent to New Orleans." 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 15 



At this latter period commencing with the year 1754, the 
history of the western country becomes involved in the bit- 
ter and relentless wars between France and England for 
American supremacy. France at the first, occupying the 
most advantageous ground, became the successful aggressor, 
and was then engaged in carrying out the grand military de- 
sign of maintaining a continuous line of forts from Canada 
to the Mexican Gulf, including the head of navigation on 
the Ohio. It was at this time occured the memorable de- 
feat of Braddock, in attempting the capture of Fort Du 
Quesne, July 9th, 1755. It was in managing the retreat 
from this disaster, that the military genius of Washington 
was first brought into notice. A few years later, in 1757, 
occurred the massacre of Fort William Henry, on Lake 
George, a survivor of which, Captain Jonathan Carver, as 
we shall presently have occasion to note, made an early ex- 
ploration of the Upper Mississippi Valley, and published a 
very full and accurate account of its geography and natural 
resources. 

Following these early successes however, the French were 
doomed to a continued series of most disastrous defeats, 
culminating in the treaty of Paris, of 1763, by which France 
surrendered to Great Britain all her North American pos- 
sessions east of the Mississippi, including the whole of Can- 
ada, with the exception of some small fishing islands off the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, still held by France, which together 
with certain West India possessions, comprises all that this 
great European power now controls in the western hemis- 
phere. Cotemporary with this important event in the his- 
tory of the Mississippi Valley, we have to note an addi- 
tional secret treaty, concluded between France and Spain, 
the year previous, November 3rd, 1762, by which the for- 
mer ceded to Spain all her possessions west of the Mississ- 
ippi, including the country we now occupy, and the Island 
of Orleans, this controling the outlet of the Mississippi river. 



16 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 



The exact terms of the treaty (which Nicolet characterizes 
as "the everlasting shameful one") were never published, 
and the fact was first made known to the inhabitants of 
Lower Louisiana, in October, 1764. It was not till the year 
1770, that Spanish authority was definitely established in 
Upper Louisiana. 

The mortification of the French settlers on the eastern 
bank of the Mississippi, including the Illinois country, in be- 
ing thus unceremoniously transferred to the rule of their old 
historic enemies, the English, had a manifest effect in hin- 
dering the progress of settlement, and whole communities 
left their homes, to seek others more congenial in Lower 
Louisiana, or on the west bank of the Mississippi, soon to 
pass under the less detested rule of Spain. 

On account of the isolated situation of the country, and 
especially the active opposition of the Indian tribes, who in 
cherishing kind regards to the French, extended a no less 
cordial hatred to their aggressive enemies, the English, 
military occupation of the country was delayed till July 17th, 
1765. It was at this period that the celebrated Indian war- 
rior, Pontiac, with his confederated Indian tribes, waged a 
bloody and exterminating war through all the English set- 
tlements west of the Alleghenies. St. Louis, the present me- 
tropolis of the Upper Mississippi valley, also had its origin 
in these unsettled times, having been selected by a Mr. La- 
clede, as the headquarters of a French fur trading establish- 
ment, its first actual occupation dating back to February 
15th, 1764. A very interesting account of the early history 
of St. Louis is contained in Mcolet's report on the Upper 
Mississippi valley, pubhshed by Congress, in 1845. Thus 
have we traced a brief outline of the history of French oc- 
cupation of the Mississippi valley, covering a period of 
ninety years, from the discovery of Marquette, in 1673, to 
the treaty of Paris, of 1763. It may be briefly summed up 
in the sparse and widely separated line of settlement in the 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 17 



immediate valley of the Mississippi, including New Orleans, 
Natchez, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Ft. Chartres, and the trading 
post of Prairie du Chien. 



JOINT SPANISH AND ENGLISH OCCUPATION OF THE 
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 

We now come to note the era of Spanish and English 
occupation of the Mississippi Valley, continuing in the lat- 
ter only to the close of the revolutionary war in 1783, while 
Spanish rule extended to the date of the re-transference 
of Louisiana from Spain to France, and its purchase soon 
after by the United States, in 1803. 

With the accession of British authority and the introduc- 
tion of an English-speaking people, soon to merge into the 
great American Republic, we are put in possession of au- 
thentic narratives and descriptions of the country, by which 
the thread of historical events may be most conveniently 
traced. It must be admitted that previous accounts by 
French writers are, as a general rule, tinctured by their ex- 
clusive national or political views, and indicate not unfre- 
quently a disposition to conceal the true state of things, and 
thus keep from other rival nationalities an exact knowledge 
of the actual resources and capabilities of the country they 
aim to monopolize. Hence some of the early French maps 
are purposely inexact, and many of the published narratives 
were nothing but wholesale fictions. Furthermore, it is not 
to be wondered at that the French, in surrendering the 
fruits of their dearly earned discoveries to the possession 
and control of their old and hereditary enemies, should de- 
cline to communicate the knowledge thus obtained, or even 
to mislead by positive untruths. Such at least are the un- 
contradicted statements of cotemporary English writers and 
travelers. 

3 



18 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 



Among the narratives especially worthy of attention in 
the way of authentic information of this part of the country, 
incl tiding especially the upper Mississippi, is that of Capt. 
Jonathan Carver, an officer in the American provincial 
army in the French war, and one of the survivors of the 
terrible Indian massacre of Fort Wm. Henry, in 1757. 
With the close of the war this enterprising traveler under- 
took a journey of exploration to these remote western 
regions, prompted by the following laudable motives, as 
stated in the introduction to his published narrative, from 
which I quote : — 

"Fo sooner was the war with France concluded, and 
peace established by the treaty of Versailles, in the year 
1763, than I began to consider (having rendered my country 
some services during the war) how I might continue still 
serviceable, and contribute as much as lay in my power to 
make that vast acquisition of territory gained by Great 
Britain in North America, advantageous to it. It appeared 
to me indispensably needful that government should be 
acquainted in the iirst place with the new dominions they 
were now become possessed of. To this purpose I determin- 
ed, as the next proof of my zeal, to explore the most unknown 
parts of them, and to spare no trouble or expense in acquir- 
ing a knowledge that promised to be advantageous to my 
countrymen," etc., etc. 

The narrative following this frank and straight-forward 
introduction, considering the time in which it was written, 
(over one hundred years ago), is certainly worthy of more 
credit than it has generally received. In his statements of the 
general features of the country, its scenery, and natural 
productions, there is even less of exaggeration than in many 
of the books of the present day. The principal localities 
tliere referred to can be readily located, and the exactness 
of description fully verified. It is in this view of credibility, 
as applied to the general aspects of the country ,^that especial 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 19 



value attaches to his accounts of the Indian tribes of that 
region, some of which had hardly before been visited by 
civilized men. His views moreover of the future of this 
country were far in advance of his time, and sound in a 
measure almost prophetic, as may be seen from the follow- 
ing extract (Introduction, p. 28): — 

" To what power or authority this new world will become 
dependent after it has arisen from its present uncultivated 
state, time alone can discover. But as the seat of empire 
from time immemorial has been gradually progressing to- 
wards the west, there is no doubt but that at some future 
period mighty kingdoms will emerge from these wilder- 
nesses, and stately palaces, and solemn temples with gilded 
spires reaching the skies, supplant the Indian huts whose 
only decorations are the barbarous trophies of their van- 
quished enemies." 

From the body of the narrative, we learn that in the year 
1766, the;route of Marquette in 1673, by way of Green Bay 
and the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, had already become a 
well-known avenue of trade with the Indian tribes of the 
northwest. That Prairie du Chien, so named by French 
traders, was then occupied as a central point for supplies, 
and a general rendezvous for meeting the various Indian 
tribes occupying the upper Mississippi, whose navigable 
waters, no longer silent and deserted as at the time of Mar- 
quette's discovery, afforded a ready means of conveyance 
both north and south. In pursuing his journey to the north- 
west, Capt. Carver passed up the Mississippi from Prairie 
du Chien, by the same mode of conveyance as that used by 
Hennepin in 1680 — bark canoes, and reached the Falls of 
St. Anthony late in the fall of 1766. Early in December of 
that year, he followed up the St. Peters river, and spent 
that winter with some bands of the Sioux Indians occupy- 
ing winter quarters north of the great bend of this river. 
Here, according to his narrative, he was engaged in observ- 



20 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 



ing the customs of these Indians, learning their language, 
and acquiring such geographical knowledge of the region 
of country to the west as might be available in the prosecu- 
tion of his great scheme of penetrating to the Pacific Ocean. 
His published map, made up from these various sources of 
information, was in point of accuracy far in advance of any 
before published, though necessarily defective in reference 
to the remote districts, in regard to which he had to depend 
upon the exaggerated statements of Indians, whose infor- 
mation was conveyed by means of rough maps, traced with 
charcoal on sheets of bark. 

In the following season, not succeeding in his design of 
procuring the necessary outfit and goods for prosecuting his 
journey across the continent, he returned to Prairie du 
Chien, and from there again ascended the Mississippi as far 
as the Chippew^a river, followed up the latter stream, and by 
a succession of portages reached Lake Superior, where 
most of the summer and fall months of 1767 were spent in 
exploring its northern shores. 

It was in the course of these various journeys, that Capt. 
Carver, who, with genuine Yankee sagacity seemed to have 
been particularly attracted by the picturesque region on the 
east bank of the Mississippi, lying between the Falls of St. 
Anthony and that beautiful expansion of the Mississippi 
known as Lake Pepin, secured from the Indian chiefs occu- 
pying this district, a grant of land, included in the above 
limits, and extending eastward four days journey, reckoned 
in round numbers at one hundred and twenty miles, thus 
including a large portion of the present states of Wisconsin 
and Minnesota. This large grant, duly attested and signed, 
only needed the confirmation of the British Crown to secure 
to its possessor a lordly domain, in extent and value equal- 
ing the broad patent of Charles II. to William Penn. To 
secure this rich prize, Carver, on the completion of his jour- 
ney in 1769, sailed for England and laid his papers and 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 21 



petition before George III. Unfortunately for tlie success 
of this scheme, the difficulties which eventuated in the war 
of American Independence interposed delays and subse- 
quent failure, and Carver, unable to secure his claim or to 
receive any compensation for his services from the British 
Crown, died in actual poverty in 1780, in London, soon 
after the publication of his travels. 

This so-called Carver's grant was afterward transferred 
to various parties, and was brought before the United States 
Congress with a view to the ratification 'of Carver's claim, 
but for want of sufficient evidence, was reported against 
and the claim disallowed. A very full and condensed doc- 
umentary history of this claim is contained in Vol. YI. of 
Wisconsin state historical collections, lately published. The 
war of American Independence, which so seriously inter- 
fered with Capt. Carver's land speculation in the northwest, 
produced little outward effect in the sparse and remote set- 
tlements of the Mississippi Valley, except doubtless in 
checking emigration. 

There was at this time little to encourage military occu- 
pation among the peaceful French settlers of Illinois, while 
at the same time the outlet of the Mississippi and its west- 
ern bank was under the military rule of Spain, then in hos- 
tility with Great Britain. In this condition of affairs, Eng- 
land was content with holding a menancing attitude to- 
wards the northwest from her strong-hold at Mackinaw, 
andthepossessionof Detroit, which was maintained through 
the war. 

Only two prominent events directly connected with the 
history of this region need arrest our attention during this 
eventful period, viz: The successful attack on St. Louis, by 
British and Indian forces, in 1780, and the military occupa- 
tion of lUinois, by Col. George K. Clark, of Virginia. The 
attack on St. Louis, then, of course, under Spanish rule, 
was directly instigated as a matter of retaliation for the part 



22 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 



taken by Spain in favor of the independence of the United 
States; the friendship of Spain in this instance, being due 
more to hatred and jealousy of England, than any sincere 
love for the struggling American republic. The attack 
was planned as a surprise, and was so far successful in find- 
ing the inefiicient military forces unprepared for defence. 
The date of the attack as given by Nicolet was May 6th, 
1780. The Spanish garrison consisting of not more than 
sixty men, did little or nothing in the way of defence, which 
was resolutely made by the inhabitants of the place, includ- 
ing both men and women. The number of the assailants 
was estimated at nearly one thousand. The resistance was 
so vigorously conducted that the attacking force was obliged 
to retreat, and in so doing, wreaked their vengeance on the 
unprotected outside settlements, when not less than sixty 
persons were killed, and thirteen taken prisoners. This de- 
fence of St. Louis, which if the attack has been successful, 
would have involved according to the experience of those 
times an indiscriminate slaughter of its inhabitants, has 
been partly ascribed to an active interferance by American 
troops, then in possession of the British forts on the east 
bank of the river, but according to Mr. I^icolet, there is no 
reliable evidence in support of this statement, though doubt- 
less, Americans, in their private capacity as citizens of St. 
Louis, took a prominent part in resisting the attack. 

The capture and retention of the British forts in the Illi" 
nois country, and on the Wabash, was a military enterprise, 
planned and successfully carried out by Col. George R. Clark, 
of Virginia, under written instructions from Patrick Henry, 
the eloquent orator, then governor of that state. Fort 
Kaskaskia was taken by surprise, on the 4th day of July, 
1778, and on the 24th of February; following, 1779, the 
British fort at Yincennes was also captured, thus effectually 
putting an end to British military occupation in this po'rtion 
of the west. An interesting detailed account of this adven- 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 23 



turons expedition of Col. Clark, is contained in the Annals 
of the West, covering the period of 1778 and 1779. 

With the acknowledgment ot American independence by 
the treaty of 1783, the east bank of the Mississippi valley, as 
far south as 31° north latitude, became an integral part of 
the United States territory, while Spain still retained her 
possession of the west bank, including the navigable outlet 
of this valley. This ill-defined boundry, especially object- 
ionable in the control thus given to Spain, over the free nav- 
igation of the Mississippi, was the cause of much disagree- 
ment, naturally increasing with the progressive advance of 
settlement in the upper country. Spain, from the first, jeal- 
ous of the progress of the new republic, established on her 
very borders, whose institutions were so at variance with all 
her policy and national exclusiveness, used her position to 
check this growth, and if possible, break up the federal 
union. In this view% she placed obstructions on commerce, 
denied the right before guaranteed of free navigation of the 
Mississippi, and insidiously fostered, and* directly encour- 
aged plans for the secession of the southw^est. Nothing but 
the weakness of the federal union prevented actual hostil- 
ities, which, on several occasions, nearly reached a crisis. 
In fact, near the close of the elder Adams's administration 
in 1800, a United States military organization was fitted out 
for the capture of Kew Orleans, and the executioi* of this 
military movement was only prevented by the accession of 
a new administration under Jeiferson. Under these uncer- 
tain and discouraging circumstances extending to the close 
of the eighteenth century, the interests of the entire Miss- 
issippi valley were seriously injured, but with the opening 
of the present century, the complication of European poli- 
tics again opened up the way for the extension of American 
authority over the entire Mississippi valley. Spain, fearing 
the loss of her extensive colonial possessions to the south, 
by a secret treaty with France, dated in 1802, transferred to 



24 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 



that power, then under the military rule of Bonaparte, her 
entire possessions in the Mississippi valley, including Upper 
and Lower Louisiana. By this treaty, the soil we now oc- 
cupy, after an interval of about forty years of Spanish rule, 
again passed under the control of France. Napoleon, at 
this time, absorbed in his gigantic schemes for establishing 
the French empire and control ing the policy of Europe, 
found little opportunity to attend to the interests of a dis- 
tant colony, and thus, fortunately for the cause of American 
republicanism, the formidable coalition of the European 
powers obliged this ambitious military ruler to concen- 
trate all his efforts on European soil. Hence, after little 
more than a year's nominal jurisdiction, he disposed of this 
newly acquired territory of Upper and Lower Louinana 
to the United States for $15,000,000. 

The date of December 20th, 1803, by which the final 
transfer was made by France to the United States of this 
trans-Mississippi region, marks an event which may 
worthily occupy the first page of a history which in the suvv 
ceeding seventy years progress, has astonished the woi'ld. 

Jefferson, the master spirit in bringing about this new 
acquisition, was not only a far-seeing statesman, but an em- 
inently practical man, and to his wise policy we are mainly 
indebted for the series of government explorations inaugur- 
ated by him for determining the actual character and re- 
sources of this western region. It would be but a just com- 
memoration of the early services of this great statesman, to 
affix the name of Jefferson to some well defined state to be 
carved out of these rapidly developing western territories, 
to include, if possible, under natural boundaries, the head 
sources of the grand rivers flowing east and west from the 
great continental water-shed. 

With the era of western explorations commencing with 
the adventurous journey of Lewis and Clark, in 1804-5-6, 
to the Pacific ocean by way of the head waters of the Miss- 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS, 25 



ouri and the Columbia rivers, we come to notice as directly 
connected with the progress of settlement in the Mississippi 
Valley, the expedition of Lt. Pike, in 1805-6, from St. Louis 
to the supposed head waters of the Mississippi. 

In this succinct and quaintly written narrative, we get a 
clear and connected view of the natural aspects and civil- 
ized development of this region, after a lapse of one hundred 
and thirty-two years from its first discovery by Marquette. 
St. Louis, then, as now, recognized as the metropolis of this 
Upper Mississippi Valley, having thrown off the shackles of 
Spanish exclusiveness, had commenced its permanent 
growth as an American city. From this point (while Lewis 
and Clarke's expedition was still in progress) Lieut. Pike 
started on his journey up the Mississippi river on the 9th 
of August, 1805. His outfit occupying a single-keel boat, 
comprised a party of twenty men and provisions for four 
months. The journey, necessarily slow and laborious ex- 
cept when aided by a favorable wind, allowed frequent 
shore excursions by hunting parties, generally accompanied 
by Pike himself. Thus the character of the adjoining coun- 
try came under the careful inspection of this in':elligent ex- 
plorer. The map accompanying his report lays down, with 
considerable accuracy, the main features of the region thus 
passed over, including river tributaries, high points of land, 
open prairies, Indian villages, &c., &c. The distances are 
also carefully noted in the daily journal, interspersed with 
occasional remarks and suggestions, serving to give a life- 
like character to the narrative. By an unforeseen accident, 
two men of the party, making their way by land along the 
Iowa shore, just below the island formed by the Muscatine 
slough, were cut off from the main river channel, and thus 
separated from the boat party. In this dilemma they did 
not succeed in joining their comrades till they were picked 
up by some trading parties, and brought as far as Prairie du 
Chien. These two men, whose names are not given in the 



26 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 



narrative, may therefore claim the credit of being the first 
settlers on Iowa soil. 

On the 27th of August the mouth of Rock river is 
reached, and a camp made about four miles above on the 
west bank, which must have brought them in the vicinity 
of Davenport, probably on the land at present owned by 
Mr. Hall, or Judge Cook. In the account of this day's 
journey there is a note made of passing a pole on a prairie 
on which -^ve dogs were suspended in preparation for an 
Indian dog feast. Such feasts, on a still more extensive 
scale, might at this day be enjoyed not far from the site of 
Davenport, without much cause for regret to the majority of 
its civilized inhabitants. 

Early on the morning of August 28th Lieut. Pike reaches 
the foot of the rapids, where he encountered a Mr. Aird, a 
Mississippi fur trader, and accepts an invitation to a late 
breakfast. Mr. Aird is here delayed, waiting for his loaded 
boats to be piloted over the rapids, and thus (fortunately for 
Pike) the brief interval of the morning meal is improved to 
obtain all the information possible from this enterprising 
trader. Under these circumstances, it is to be feared that 
this first recorded Davenport breakfast was not up to the 
times of the Grand Central Hotel, being more of an intel- 
lectual than a substantial repast. But the wind is now fair 
for an ascent of the rapids, and Pike, after a cordial parting, 
spreads his blanket to the breeze, and sails up the rapids 
without delay or hindrance. At the head of the rapids is 
located a village of the Reynard Fox Indians. From this 
on, over the beautiful stretches of river scenery so familiar 
to all of us, including the rocky blufis below Dubuque, and 
the ever-varied scenery above, Prairie du Chien is reached, 
on September 4th, this being the first permanent settle- 
ment on the entire route above St. Louis — and this less 
than seventy years ago ! On the high rocky blufi' on the 
Iowa shore, not far from the present site of the town of Mc- 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 27 



Gregor, Pike selected the site of a military post, which, 
however, was never occupied as such. 

On September 21st, the mouth of the St. Peters is 
reached, and after some time spent in that vicinity, nego- 
tiating with the Indian tribes, and securing the site for a 
military post, since known as " Fort Snelling," he com- 
mences the arduous trip above the Falls of St. Anthony, 
encountering all the vicissitudes of a winter campaign in 
that inclement region, the details of which would occupy 
too much time. Suffice it to say, that the supposed source 
of the Mississippi was reached, its course mapped out, and 
the character of the extensive lakes and marshes of this 
district fully made known. Pike's return voyage was com- 
pleted on the 30th of April, 1806, after an absence of nearly 
nine months. 

ITot many years succeeding Pike's expedition occurred 
the second war with England, generally known as '^ The 
war of 1812." Among other causes leading to this renewed 
hostility between the two countries was a most flagrant in- 
terference by British traders with the Indian tribes of the 
northwest, then under the jurisdiction of the United States. 
In fact, not only the English fur traders, whose business was 
likely to be curtailed by the active competition of American 
citizens, but the British frontier military authorities used all 
their influence to promote hostility between the various In- 
dian tribes and the enterprising settlers then pushing their 
way into the inviting northwestern country. Kor was this 
interference confined to misrepresentation of the character 
and designs of the United States government, but to the 
actual furnishing of arms, ammunition, and supplies for 
prosecuting their murderous attacks on the feeble settle- 
ments of the west. Thus the Indian rifle, whose startling 
peals woke the forest solitudes, bringing dismay and death 
to many a hardy frontiersman, and the tomahawk, crushing 
through the brain of defenceless victims, were manufactured 



28 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 



in English shops, and formed a not inconsiderable item in 
the ordinary supplies for the Indian trade. Under these 
circumstances, the war of 1812, generally regarded in his- 
torical annals as a maratime contest, presented far other 
features to the enterprising settlers of the west. To them 
it 'implied a fearful aggravation of the difficulties and dan- 
gers by which they had been constantly surrounded, as well 
as the liability to open attack from those whose hostilities 
had been confined to more underhanded measures, in insti- 
gating others. Nor had they to wait long for these open 
manifestations. Mackinaw, the key to the northwest, then 
occupied by a weak garrison of barely fifty-seven men, was 
captured by a British force on July 17th, 1812, before the 
news of an actual declaration of war had reached that re- 
mote station. In less than a month after (August 16th), 
Detroit was also disgracefully surrendered by its incompe- 
tent commander. General Hull. Still more disastrous was 
the retreat and massacre at Ft. Dearborn (Chicago), occur- 
ring on the 15th of August of that same year. In this re- 
treat, fully equalling in barbarity the massacre of Ft. Wm. 
Henry in 1757, nearly two-thirds of the retreating party 
were killed by the Indians ; and the scene of this terrible 
catastrophe along the lake shore southeast of Chicago was, 
for years, marked by the ghastly trophies of Indian bar- 
barity. 

Had there been sufficient inducements in the way of 
plunder, no doubt the Upper Mississippi, then at the mercy 
of the British forces, backed by their savage allies, would 
have presented a repetition of these scenes of war and 
massacre. But the settlements were sparse, and difficult of 
access, besides offering little substantial results for the dan- 
gers to be incurred. St. Louis, then the military headquar- 
ters of the United States forces, was far distant and too 
strongly manned to justify an attack by the Hmited means 
at the command of the British outposts. Hence, with the 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 29 



exception of occasional Indian skirmishes in the vicinity of 
the settlements above and below St. Louis — in which the 
well-known warrior, Black Ilawk, took a prominent part — 
we have little to note in the way of historical incident per- 
taining to this immediate section of country till the year 
1814. At this time, the success which had attended the 
American arms in the defeat of the Indians under Tecum- 
seh, Perry's victory on Lake Erie, and the retaking of De- 
troit, induced the United States military authorities at St. 
Louis to give some attention to securing the important mil- 
itary position at Prairie du Chi en, then threatened by the 
British forces at Mackinaw. Accordingly, in the spring of 
1814, some gunboats were sent up with a view to protect 
the feeble garrison then engaged in enlarging their means 
of defence. But before these arrangements could be prop- 
erly carried out, a British military expedition, composed 
largely of Indian traders, clerks, and employes in the inter- 
est of the English fur-trading companies, with the usual 
complement of Indian savages^ the whole being under com- 
mand of Col. McKay, left Mackinaw, and by the usual trav- 
eled route made their appearance unexpectedly before the 
feeble Fort, and demanded its surrender. According to the 
most reliable authorities, this attack occurred on July 17th. 
Lieut. Perkins, the American officer in command of the 
Fort, at lirst declined to surrender, but after several days 
skirmishing, the supply of ammunition being nearly exhaust- 
ed, and especially fears of a general Indian massacre in case 
of a successful assault, induced a capitulation on the fourth 
day. As soon after as practicable the American troops 
were sent down the river to St. Louis, being escorted as far 
as Rock river by a small company of British soldiers, to 
prevent them from Indian assault in their defenceless con- 
dition. 

Before the fact of this capture was made known to the 
military authorities at St. Louis, Lieut. Campbell had been 



30 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY : 



sent with men and supplies to reinforce the feeble garrison. 
He had proceeded as far as Rock Island, where he had an 
interview with Black Hawk, who then claimed to be neu- 
tral, though unquestionably secretly espousing the cause of 
the British. Just after this interview, the news of the 
capture of Prairie du Chien w^as received b}^ Black Hawk 
from an Indian runner, and deeming this a favorable op- 
portunity to throw off his assumed neutrality, a party under 
the leadership of this celebrated chieftain started in pursuit 
of Campbell's party. They were overtaken while carelessly 
preparing for a noon repast, in the narrow channel separat- 
ing Campbell's Island from the Illinois shore, one boat 
being fastened to the main bank, while another was an- 
chored a short distance out in the stream. The attack was 
made by rapid firin^ from a concealed ambuscade, with a 
view to cut off and destroy the party in the shore boat. By 
great risk and exposure the boat in the current was tarned 
toward the shore, and the threatened land party transferred 
to it, when the shore boat was abandoned, and left to be 
plundered and burned by these treacherous savages. Lieut. 
Campbell, himself severely wounded in the encounter, as 
well as several of his men, finally made good their retreat, 
and returned to St. Louis to report the ill result of their ex- 
pedition. This unfortunate commander has inadvertently 
secured permanent recognition of his disaster, by having 
his name affixed to what is still known as " Campbell's 
Island." 

Doubtless from the representations made by Lt. Camp- 
bell on his return to St. Louis, as well as from other evi- 
dences of hostility on the part of the Indians on Rock 
river, a militarj- expedition was fitted out in August, with 
a view to punish them, and if possible bring them to terms. 
The command of this expedition was confided to a no less 
important personage than Major Zachary Taylor, since 
president of the United States. 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 31 



Major Taylor, with his well-manned fleet, anticipating of 
course an easy victory over the poorly equipped Indian 
warriors of Eock river, reached the scene of his operations 
just in front of the present city of Davenport, on a bright 
morning in August. Here he was considerably dismayed 
to find Indians dressed in British uniform on the Rock Is- 
land shore, manning two formidable pieces of artillery, set 
in a Ime with other painted guns, looking equally formidable 
at a distance It would seem that Col. McKay, the capturer 
of Prairie du Chien, had anticipated this expedition, and 
accordingly taken measures to prevent any advances that 
might subsequently weaken his position at Prairie du Chien. 
Hence the first salute that Major Taylor received was a 
well-aimed shot, which struck without disabling the advance 
boat, which he himself occupied ; a second shot took away 
the rudder of another boat, the painted guns, so far as we 
can learn, not doing much execution. The disabled boat 
was fast drifting toward the Iowa shore, where large par- 
ties of Indians were seen lurking in expectation of securing 
an easy prey. 

In this critical juncture it was necessary for some one to 
cast a rope from the disabled boat in order that it might be 
taken in tow, and thus removed from imminent danger of 
capture by the Indians. This was courageously done by 
a young soldier named Paul Harpole, who, not satisfied 
with^^this proof of his bravery, stood up exposed to the fire 
of the Indians on the shore, and as loaded guns were 
handed to him, fired fourteen times into the crowd, doino- 
evident 'execution; after the fourteenth fire, Harpole him- 
self was shot in the forehead, and falling overboard, drifted 
to the shore, where the men on the retreating boats saw his 
body inhumanly cut to pieces. In the monument which 
Scott 'county, Iowa, proposes to erect to her fallen heroes 
during thejate war, the name of Paul Harpole, and the 
date of August, 1814 should properly head the list, as com- 



32 THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 



memorating the first American soldier that fell in the ser- 
vice of his country, on our Iowa soil. This retreat of Ma- 
jor Taylor (thirty-two years later the hero of Buena Vista,) 
can hardly be considered under the "circumstances as any 
reflection on his military character: evidently it was'not]the 
painted guns that frightened him. We only learn^further 
from one of the participants in this expedition that Major 
Taylor stopped for repairs on the Illinois shore, three miles 
below the mouth of Rock river, from which point he re- 
turned to St. Louis. It is hardly necessary^ to state that 
the account of this affair contained in "Davenport Past and 
Present'' is in almost every item incorrect. 

No doubt the circumstances attending this expedition, as 
well as the location of the populous Indian villages on Rock 
river, called attention to the position of Rock Island as a 
desirable point for the establishment of a'frontier military 
post. Accordingly after the war, in 1816, Fort Armstrong 
was built and occupied, being so named after Gen. John 
Armstrong, the eflicient secretary of war, under Madison's 
administration. 

In the year 1823, Major Long's expedition to the sources 
of the St. Peters and the Red River of the North was car- 
ried out. The report of this exploration, published in Lon- 
don in 1825, gives an interesting view of the country along 
the line of travel, and is particularly full in its account of 
the Indian tribes of the northwest. The notice there given 
of Chicago fifty years ago does not compare very well with 
the accomplished result of half a century, and would excite 
the risibilities of a Chicagoan of 1873. It may'be worth 
while to quote a few remarks here on this head as showing 
how scientific men may be often greatly deceived in their 
estimates. I quote from pp. 164-5-6, viz: — 

"We were much disappointed at Chicago and its vicinity. 
We found in it nothing to justify the great eulogium lav- 
ished upon the place by a late traveler (Schoolcraft), who 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 33 



observes that ' it is the most fertile and beautiful that can 
be imagined.' 'As a farming country,' says he, 'it unites 
the ferlile soil of the finest lowland prairies with an eleva- 
tion which exempts it from the influence of stagnant waters, 
and a summer climate of delightful serenity.' The best 
comment upon this description of the climate and soil is the 
fact that with the utmost vigilance on the part of the officers, 
it was impossible for the garrison, consisting of from seventy 
to ninety men, to subsist upon the grain raised in the coun- 
try, although much of their time was devoted to agricultu- 
ral pursuits. The difiieulties which the agriculturist 
meets with are numerous; they arise from the shallowness 
of the soil, from its humidity, and from its exposure to the 
cold damp winds which blow from the lake, with great 
force during most of the year. The grain is frequently de- 
stroyed by swarms of insects. There are also a number of 
destructive birds, of which it was impossible for the garri- 
son to avoid the baneful influence, except by keeping, as 
was practiced at Ft. Dearborn, a party of soldiers constant- 
ly engaged in shooting at the crows and black-birds, that 
committed depredations upon the corn planted by them. 
But even with all these exertions, the maize seldom has time 
to ripen, owing to the shortness and coldness of the season. 
The provisions of the garrison were for the most part con- 
veyed from Mackinaw in a schooner, and sometimes they 
were brought from St. Louis, a distance of three hundred 
and eighty-six miles, up the Illinois and Des Plaines rivers. 
"The appearance of the country near Chicago ofters but 
few features upon which the eye of the traveler can dwell 
with pleasure. There is too much uniformity in the scen- 
ery; the extensive water prospect is a waste, uncheckered 
by islands, unenlivened by the spreading canvass, and the 
fatiguing monotony of which is increased by the equally 
undiversified prospect of the land scenery, which affords no 
relief to the sight, as it consists merely of a plain, in which 

5 



34 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 



but few patches of thin and scrubby woods are observed 
scattered here and there. 

"The vilhige presents no cheering prospect, as notwith- 
standing its antiquity, it consists of but few huts, inhabited 
by a miserable race of men, scarcely equal to the Indians, 
from whom they are descended. Their log or bark houses 
are low, filthy, and disgusting, displaying not the least trace 
of comfort. Chicago is perhaps one of the oldest settlements 
in the Indian country; its name, derived from the Pottawat- 
tamie language, signifies either a skunk or wild onion, and 
each of these significations has been occasionally given for 
it. A fort is said to have formerly existed there. Mention 
is made of the place as having been visited by Perrot, who 
found ' Chigogau ' to be the residence of a powerful chief 
of the Miamis. The number of trails centering all at this 
spot, and their apparent antiquity, indicate that this was 
for a long time the site of a large Indian village. As a 
place of business, it ofifers no inducement to the settler; for 
the whole amount of trade on the lake did not exceed the 
cargo of five or six schooners, even at the time when the 
garrison received its supplies from Mackinaw. 

"It is not impossible that at some distant day when the 
banks of the Illinois shall have been covered with a dense 
population, and when the low prairies which extend be- 
tween that river and Fort Wayne shall have acquired a pop- 
ulation proportionate to the produce they can yield, that 
Chicago may become one of the points in the direct line of 
communication between the northern lakes and the Mississ- 
ippi; but even the intercourse which will be carried on 
through this communication, will, we think, at all times be 
a limited one. The dangers attending on the navigation of 
the lake, and the scarcity of harbors along the shores, must 
ever prove a serious obstacle to the increase of the commer- 
cial importance of Chicago. The extent of the sand banks 
which are formed on the eastern and southern shore, by 



AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 35 



the prevailing north and northwest winds, will likewise pre- 
vent any important works from being undertaken to im- 
prove the post of Chicago." 

Could the writer of this sketch, now after the hipse of less 
than fifty years, see the Chicago of the present day, the 
Queen City of the Lakes, he would be inclined to materially 
modify his views. 

On this same expedition an examination was made of the 
natural water conmiunication between the lake at Chicao-o 
and the head-waters of the Illinois leading to the Mississip- 
pi. In this examination and report we have the first inti- 
mation of the feasibility of an enterprise, as yet only par- 
tially realized, of direct water communication between 
Lake Michigan and the Mississippi river. I say 'partially, 
for the present Illinois and Michigan canal is not on the 
most direct route, and its capacity is limited to a single 
class of boats, not fitted either for river or lake trafiic. But 
the problem itself, on which the producing interests of the 
Upper Mississippi Valley are so intimately dependent, was 
substantially solved when, on the 15th of July, 1871, by the 
deep cut of the summit level, the waters of Lake Michigan 
were cause to fiow up the slimy bed of Chicago river, and 
pour their tribute on the Mississippi slope. With this grand 
feeder virtually drawing on the entire basin of the great 
lakes, what is there to prevent a direct water route of any 
capacity desired between the lakes and the Mississippi ? 
Tijyie and money (and, it is to be hoped, not too much of the 
former) is all that is now requisite to accomplish this im- 
portant result. 

But I have already far exceeded the limits originally de- 
signed for a brief address, though the subject itself, to do 
proper justice, would require volumes. 

Thus, to conclude, from the fragmentary materials at 
my command, I have endeavored, at least, with honest zeal, 
to commemorate the deeds and labors of those early pio- 



36 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: 



neers who have, for our benefit, planted the seeds of a better 
civilization in this magnificent valley. I have brought down 
my historic sketch within the memory of living men, and 
there leave it for other and abler hands to complete. The 
forms of those lately passed and now passing away, are too 
'palpable — they touch too nearly the clashing interests of 
to-day ; they need the softening hand of Time to develop 
the permanent value of their works. — They, and we, must 
wait. 



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